The invention relates to an articulated joint for the articulatingly joining of two joint bodies, having a first bearing body disposed in a bore of one of the joint bodies for co-rotation therewith and provided internally with a first spherical bearing surface, having a second bearing body which is joined to the other joint body for co-rotation therewith and has a second, spherical, outer bearing surface in contact with the first bearing surface, having a first fluid pathway leading through the two joint bodies and the bearing bodies for a fluid, and having gaskets to seal the fluid pathway.
In machinery elements which are connected in an articulated manner to one another, it is often desired to provide a pathway through the joint to carry a fluid, for example for the purpose of avoiding the use of systems of tubing or hoses for transferring the fluid or of protecting the fluid pathway against external damage. This is especially true in cases in which a component mounted on a support or a machine part connected therewith is to be driven by hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder-and-piston units which cannot be fastened directly or rigidly to the support.
In known articulated joints of the kind specified above (DE-OS No. 22 35 172, DE-GM No. 18 69 890) only a single pathway through the joint is provided for a fluid. It is a disadvantage that the fluid can be transported through the pathway in only one direction and only at a rate of flow dependent upon the cross section of the pathway. On account of the special construction of the known joints, it is also not easily possible to create at least one additional fluid pathway that will be independent of the one available, without thereby mechanically weakening the bearing parts or undertaking complex separate arrangements for the production of the various special components.
The invention is therefore addressed to the problem of designing the articulated joint with simple components such that at least two fluid pathways independent of one another will lead through the joint, which can run in the same direction so as to carry larger flows of fluids, or in opposite directions to carry fluids in opposite directions.